Ruth Ellen Kern (1914 - January 26, 2002) was an American lawyer, community leader and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

. Kern was an early pioneer in law for women in El Paso, Texas. She was also outspoken against myths regarding violence against women, sharing her own experiences with rape with the public. Kern was an active member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and a law suit she filed for an inmate led to El Paso County to construct a new

jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

with better conditions for

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Biography

Kern was born in Chicago to

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

immigrants and grew up poor in the South Side. and Kern raised her family and attended college and university classes part-time at the University of Chicago and the

Chicago Kent College of Law Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school affiliated with the Illinois Institute of Technology. It is the second oldest law school in the state of Illinois. It is ranked 91st among U.S. law schools, and its trial advocacy program is ranked in ...

. At the college of law, she was the only woman in her class and she earned the

Kappa Beta Pi Kappa Beta Pi () is a Legal Association which was formerly a professional law sorority in the United States. History Kappa Beta Pi was founded at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, Illinois on . Its Founders were: The sorority was incorporat ...

Honor Key. She was admitted to the

Illinois bar The Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) is among largest voluntary state bar associations in the United States. Approximately 28,000 lawyers are members of the ISBA. Unlike some state bar associations, in which membership is mandatory, ISBA memb ...

in 1946. She started working first as a legal editor for the Commerce Clearing House Association and was about to go into private practice when her son's health prompted a move to El Paso, Texas in 1947. Kern married for a second time in 1948. She became the secretary to County Judge Victor B. Gilbert until her pregnancy with twins interrupted her career. Kern had to take the job as a secretary because she had trouble getting hired as a lawyer. and Kern worked as a housewife and did civic work for the next fifteen years before she decided to go back into law. In 1966, she divorced her second husband. Kern was admitted to the

Texas state bar The State Bar of Texas (the Texas Bar) is an agency of the judiciary under the administrative control of the Texas Supreme Court. It is responsible for assisting the Texas Supreme Court in overseeing all attorneys licensed to practice law in Te ...

in 1967. and She started her own private practice in 1968, since law firms weren't hiring many women in the city. She was the only woman doing full-time private practice in El Paso at the time. Her practice was known as Kern & Rosen and Kern took care of family law, while her partner, Stanley Rosen worked on business law. Kern also taught classes part-time at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) for three years until her law practice grew too busy. Kern was a member and served as president of the El Paso chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Kern often took on indigent defense cases. One, filed around 1975 sued El Paso County due to the poor conditions in the

. This lawsuit led to the construction of a new jail. She also defended

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

s to the Vietnam War. In 1974, the El Paso Women's Political Caucus (EPWPC) endorsed Kern for the position of judge at the Court of Domestic Relations in El Paso, which she lost to Enrique Pena after a "hard fight." Kern was also a very outspoken

and brought issues like rape and women's rights to the forefront of public discussion. Kern used her own experiences to dismiss myths about rape. She also served as vice chair of a shelter for women facing

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

, the Transitional Living Center, which she co-founded in 1977. Kern also co-founded and served as the first president of the El Paso Women's Bar Association. In 1993, Kern was inducted into the

El Paso Women's Hall of Fame The El Paso Women's Hall of Fame honors and recognizes the accomplishments of El Paso women. It is sponsored by the El Paso Commission for Women and was established in 1985. The first inductees were honored in 1990. Inductees are women who live in ...

. Kern died in her home from an illness on January 26, 2002.

References

External links

Ruth Kern oral history
(recorded 1984)
Ruth Kern political ad
(1974) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kern, Ruth 1914 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American lawyers Chicago-Kent College of Law alumni Lawyers from Chicago Lawyers from El Paso, Texas University of Chicago alumni University of Texas at El Paso faculty